What Should I Charge for Drywall? (2026 Contractor Pricing Guide)
Short answer
Most drywall contractors charge roughly $1.90 to $3.00 per square foot for hang, tape and finish on a standard residential job, with labor making up about 70% of that.
Drywall unit prices by work item
Enter a ZIP code to adjust every row to local cost levels. Rates start from a national baseline of 1.00 and scale by the published city cost index for that area.
Showing national baseline rates.
| Work item | Unit | Material | Labor | What to charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hang, tape and finish (level 4) Ceilings and level 5 finish push this to the top of the range. | sq ft | $0.55 | $1.35 | $1.93 to $3.02 |
Hang board only Cheaper per foot but you carry the material risk. | sq ft | $0.50 | $0.55 | $1.09 to $1.63 |
Tape and finish only Almost pure labor, so local wage rates dominate. | sq ft | $0.10 | $0.85 | $0.97 to $1.52 |
Patch and repair (per patch) Small jobs carry a minimum charge; most shops will not go below $250 to roll a truck. | patch | $12.00 | $95.00 | $91.38 to $190 |
Spray texture Knockdown and orange peel price similarly; hand textures cost more. | sq ft | $0.12 | $0.38 | $0.49 to $0.82 |
Popcorn ceiling removal Pre-1980 ceilings may need asbestos testing, which is billed separately. | sq ft | $0.15 | $1.55 | $1.57 to $2.91 |
Material and labor columns are bare cost per unit before markup. The charge column applies +15% materials, +20% labor, then +10% overhead and profit, and shows a realistic range rather than one false-precision number.
How this number is built
There is no proprietary data feed here and nothing is hidden. Every figure above comes from four visible steps, which is exactly how your own price book should work:
- 1Start from bare material and bare labor cost per unit, at a national baseline.
- 2Multiply both by your local cost factor, from the ZIP table below.
- 3Add markup: 15% on materials, 20% on labor. This covers waste, procurement and supervision.
- 4Add 10% overhead and profit on the marked-up subtotal, then show a range rather than one number.
Regional cost factors
A national average is close to useless on its own. The same drywall job prices very differently across markets. These are the multipliers applied above, against a 1.00 national baseline.
| Metro | Factor | Hang, tape and finish (level 4) (sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 1.38x | $2.67 to $4.17 |
| New York, NY | 1.32x | $2.55 to $3.99 |
| Boston, MA | 1.24x | $2.40 to $3.75 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 1.22x | $2.36 to $3.69 |
| Seattle, WA | 1.20x | $2.32 to $3.63 |
| Chicago, IL | 1.18x | $2.28 to $3.57 |
| Washington, DC | 1.15x | $2.22 to $3.48 |
| Denver, CO | 1.08x | $2.09 to $3.26 |
| Austin, TX | 1.04x | $2.01 to $3.14 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 1.02x | $1.97 to $3.08 |
| Atlanta, GA | 1.00x | $1.93 to $3.02 |
| Houston, TX | 0.98x | $1.89 to $2.96 |
Before you send this number to a client
Worth doing
- Walk the actual site before committing to a fixed price.
- Itemize disposal, permits and prep as their own lines.
- Write down what is excluded, not only what is included.
- Compare these rates against your own last three invoices.
Where bids go wrong
- Using a national average as if it were a local quote.
- Forgetting that overhead is a real cost, not profit.
- Absorbing prep and access problems instead of pricing them.
- Quoting from memory when material prices moved.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge per square foot for drywall?
For hang, tape and finish to a level 4 finish, roughly $1.90 to $3.00 per square foot is the typical all-in charge nationally once materials, labor, overhead and profit are included. Measure the actual board area including ceilings, not the floor area, or you will underbid by roughly 40% on a standard room.
Should I bid drywall by the square foot or by the board?
Bid by the square foot of finished surface for anything larger than a single room. Per-board pricing hides waste and makes change orders hard to justify. Per-board is fine for small repairs where you are really charging for the trip.
What is a fair minimum charge for a small drywall repair?
Most drywall contractors set a minimum of $250 to $400 for a service call. The number is set by drive time, setup, and the fact that mud needs multiple coats across multiple days, not by the size of the hole.
Other trades
Turn these rates into a sent proposal
A table is a starting point. Describe the job in plain words and Takeoff Convert prices it from your own price book, then produces an itemized proposal your client can e-sign.
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